Abstract

Embrace Nutraceuticals and Live, Reject it and Embrace Death

The menace of nutritional imbalance arising from change in behavior of humans with respect to eating habits poses threat to human health, and hence requires swift revitalization. The increase in the world population coupled with the nature of occupations of many people across the globe and advancement in the aspect of industrialization, technology and civilization have been observed to play significant roles in the nutritional imbalance observed among the world population, resulting in increased incidence of chronic diseases such as stomach cancer, obesity, and hypertension among others. However, in an attempt to address or circumvent the afore-mentioned menaces, consumers are seeking complementary or alternative beneficial products with little or no side effects as compared to modern synthetic intervention that will provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition, thus making nutraceuticals, functional foods and probiotics more attractive. Nevertheless, the level of awareness and knowledge of people about the remarkable potency (health benefits) of the afore-mentioned foods and food products to prevent or treat the previously mentioned chronic diseases is very low most especially in the developing countries, and hence calls for a great concern. This review therefore addressed various health challenges in which the aforementioned foods and food products have shown notable potency, and hence encouraging their fuller adoption and also enhancing the longevity of the fast increasing world population.